My sister turned 25 this week. I know right, what an old lady.
She now calls herself a cougar. If you knew my sister, you wouldn't be surprised.
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| Hey! It's me & my sis! We look fancy. |
Since I love my sister and I love to cook, I decided to throw a birthday dinner in her honour over the weekend. Of course the first words out of her mouth when I proposed the idea were, "are you making my apple cake ?"
The apple cake she speaks of is the recipe I'm about to give you. For a small amount of time during my early twenties, I lived with my mom and sister for about 3 months. During that time I found a recipe for an apple spice cake and I made it. Since then, that became my sister's favourite cake. Anytime there's a family dinner or event or I just talk to her on the phone, she asks for this cake. She's obsessed with it.
A couple years ago she found out she's gluten intolerant. So for last years birthday I tried to make the apple cake gluten free by using a blend of rice flours, epic fail. It didn't rise, completely sunken into the bundt pan, looked horrible. She took it an ate it anyways out of the pan with a spoon. I probably would've done the same thing.
This year I was determined to make a gluten free version of this cake that actually looked nice. One that actually would rise and not be a cake lump in a pan. So again my searches through the internets brought me to the King Arthur Flour site, where they sell an all-purpose gluten free flour. Perfect right?
Worked like a charm. The cake rose perfectly, used the flour 1-1 with regular all purpose flour, the only difference was the cake was alot more crumbly than it would be if I used regular flour. It wasn't dry at all, but just didn't hold quite as well as the regular version. It was just as good. Plus when you pour a caramel, creamy sauce on top, no one really cares if it makes a little more crumbs than a gluten-filled version.
This cake could also be served for a brunch or breakfast, but to me it will always be my sister's birthday cake.
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| at the end of night, only one lonely piece left |
Apple spice cake with brown sugar glaze
The original recipe calls for peeled apples, but I throw the apples in my food processor with the skin on to grate them. The food processor works much quicker for grating, but using just a plain box grater will be fine. It will just take longer.
[ adapted from Epicurious ]
3 cups gluten free all purpose flour*
1 teaspoon baking soda**
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 3/4 pounds granny smith apples, cored and coarsely grated
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Glaze :
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick spray, set aside.
Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves and allspice into a medium sized bowl. Drain grated apples in strainer, using hands or a kitchen towel, squeeze out excess liquid from apples. I'm classy and use my hands. Measure 2 cups, don't have to be exact.
Using electric mixer, beat together butter, sugars and lemon peel until fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Mix in flour mixture, followed by the grated apples.
Batter will be thick so I find it easier to spoon the batter into the prepared pan and then smooth the top. Bake for an hour or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert and finish cooling on a rack.
To make the glaze, combine all ingredients into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until sugar dissolves and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to medium and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat.
Poke cake with a skewer to make holes, pour glaze over top. Now the original recipe says to wait until it absorbs before pouring more in, but I like to add it quick and then I get a pool of glaze in the center which is yummy to serve a chunk of that with each piece. I'm weird. You can also do it the "correct" way.
Serve warm or at room temperature, will keep well for a few days but I doubt it'll last that long.
* for gluten lovers, use 3 cups all-purpose flour.
** if you are sticking to gluten free, make sure to check to see that your brand is gluten free. Some baking sodas and powders are not. I used a brand bought from a natural store which is labeled gluten free.
